Tuesday, 14 September 2010

BeaverFit say their Power Rack is the heaviest duty Power Rack system availableon the market…It is a beast…WE believe them.

It’s big. It’s solid. It makes some of our 6 foot five plus athletes lookaverage in height and easily makes some of our 100kg athletes look small, evenwith near to 200kgs on the bar.

We’ve used it for squats, deads and most overhead movements. It has taken missesfrom heavy loads without seeming to have lost any structural integrity. This isgood - this cage is SOLID.

Its sheer size enables you to pretty much do anythingwithin its structure...SAFELY. The significance of this is that it gives our athletes the confidence to go heavy without any doubt for their safety. Confidence in your equipment isintegral when the mind needs to be right.

The cages also have ‘ladder’ pull up bars with one side of the bar beingthicker, good for working the grip. Our bigger guys have done pull up workoutson these without any issues of the cage moving.

We have two designs at CrossFit Reading, two with plate holders on one side andone with plate holder either side of the rack. Preference is subjective, butaesthetics aside, space my dictate your requirement. Only one modification wewould opt for would be for the bar hooks to perhaps be slightly bigger to enableeasier re-racking.

That aside, like other BeaverFit equipment, customisability means that thePowercage can grow to meet any needs or requirements with add-ons. Not much moreyou could want really because it’s all there if you did want it.

It’s big and it’s beautiful, the BeaverFit Pull up rig covers an area of 2mx5mx2.4m tall with enough bar length to have had 10-12 of CrossFit Reading athletes performing pull-ups simultaneously (so far).

The rig at CrossFit Reading is bolted to the floor with floor plates provided. The fixing is solid such that stability is considerable. The significance of this? The first time I jumped on the pull up rig, chest to bar pull ups were knocked out with more ease that I’d ever done, easier then just the week earlier for that matter. Why, because doing pull ups on the solid BeaverFit rig is like Olympic lifting with weightlifting shoes for the first time…it makes a difference. If your WODS have been influenced by pull ups and you’ve not had a solid structure to pull on (like have in the past), then this rig will deliver PBs!!

What else do we like? The 13 monkey bars that run across the rig. Everyone does one of two things when they see the rig, one is monkey climbing across the bars…brings back the childhood memories.

The powder coat finish is smooth. Preference of this is subjective. Sweaty grip is an issue, but chalk addresses this issue. Absence of knurling does mean that there is probably better preservation of assistance bands (which we use to help develop athletes pull ups). It’s also easier to clean the chalk.

In addition to the above, BeaverFit have built this rig with evolution in mind. This means that there is the capacity to attach further structures to expand it, should you want raised wings for ‘Flying Fran’ wods or tower extensions for rope climbs…and yes we want these!

So are we happy with it? Yes we are. And would we recommend it…of course we would.